


Shopping

by Beth Harker (Beth_Harker)



Category: Newsies (1992)
Genre: M/M, Post canon, they are adults
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 12:27:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17224100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beth_Harker/pseuds/Beth%20Harker
Summary: Blink and Mush go shopping for a gift for Boots' newborn child.





	Shopping

The street lamps on Herald square were so bright and numerous that it hardly felt like evening. Men in neat suits and women with plumed hats flitted in and out of restaurants and department stores that were touted as the very best the world had to offer, reasons in and of themselves to pay New York a visit. Pretzels went for three cents here, a whole two cents more than they did on Mulberry street. A couple of newsies, small and destitute in a way that was calculatedly picturesque, were trying to hawk their papes for a nickel a piece. A barefooted kid, gawky and clearly nearing his teens, was trying to pass himself off as seven year old foundling.

Blink knew a ploy when he saw one. Things weren’t the same as they’d been when he was a kid. Most of the boys who worked for the World, the Sun, the Herald and the Journal had homes and families now. Besides, nobody Blink had known had ever gone without shoes. Children’s Aid would set you up with some, and they’d be worn and lousy, but you’d wear them if you had any pride about you.

Of course, Mush was already foraging in his pocket for change. Blink bit back a sigh. It was Mush’s heart that was soft, not his head, but the best and worst thing about him was that his heart won out every time.

“We’re spending our money on Boots tonight, alright?” Blink reminded him, slinging an arm over his shoulder to steer him away. With his free hand, he whipped the flier they’d followed to get here out of his pocket, and waved it in Mush’s face.

“Gimbels,” Mush said with resolve.

“Select! Don’t settle!” That was the department store’s slogan, and Blink recited it with the fervor of a politician giving a speech. He gestured grandly up and to the distance, to where the Gimbels sign shone above them, sparkling with tiny lightbulbs .

“There’s so many things in that store, I don’t know how we’ll get this right,” said Mush.

“That’s what’s selecting’s all about. Come on.”

With a grin and a shove, Blink pulled away. Mush laughed, and pushed him towards the door, into a retail wonderland of ceiling fans and electric lights, where thousands of goods were displayed with artistry and skill, each and every one of them ready to be bought up and carried home.

 

———-

Blink insisted that they circle the shop twice and see everything there was to see before even talking about what to buy. Mush had headed into work at four AM that morning, and kept at it until it was six o'clock and time to head home for supper. If he was tired though, he guessed that Boots was even more so, seeing as he had his own business to run and a new baby at home. That was why Mush let Blink lead him around and around and around and around the huge department store, because Blink was right. They had to select, they had to select, and they couldn’t settle.

To be sure, the store was full of marvels. Mush liked the goose down pillows and the toddler sized metal paddle car. There were ceramic cups and plates of every size and color, so many of them that Mush could imagine stacking up and filling his and Blink’s apartment from floor to ceiling. The store had marble floors, and a chandelier in the center that was also probably bigger than Mush’s apartment.

“What do you think we ought to get her, huh Mush?” Blink asked at last.

“Slippers,” Mush said without hesitation. He’d been back at the Duane Street lodging house visiting Dutchy when he’d heard word of Boots’ new daughter. The baby’s name was Laura, but Dutchy had dubbed her Slippers on the spot, and it was the funniest thing Mush had heard all week. “What do you say we buy her some nice baby slippers, little ones for her little feet. I bet you anything Boots will get a kick out of that, especially when I tell him about the joke.”

Blink agreed to the plan, and after some more circling, they found themselves in the middle of a display of the smallest slippers and shoes that money could buy. Trying to remember to select Mush picked up several pairs, and tried to think which ones would be soft and warm, and look nice on a little girl. Footwear was something that Boots knew and cared about.

“I didn’t get shoes ‘till I was… well, I don’t know how old I was, but mostly we got ‘em we was around two or three. You think it’s funny that Slippers is gonna get 'em before she can even walk?”

“I think it’s right,” Blink said. He glanced down at Mush’s shoes. They were old but comfortable, and the laces matched. “What do you say we get you a new pair now?” Blink offered anyway. That was how he was. He couldn’t hear about Mush ever not having something, even if it was something he hadn’t had years ago, without wanting to get him that thing then and there.

“How 'bout we get a toy for Slippers instead?” Mush suggested.

Mush didn’t tell Blink, once they got to the toy display that he’d never had any of those either. He’d never needed any. He smiled as he looked over the balls, and hoops, and dolls with porcelain faces. There was a rocking horse on the floor. Blink knocked on it lightly, like he was testing the wood.

“I had one of these when I was little,” Blink said.

“Yeah?” Talk about when Blink was little was the kind of conversation that had to be had carefully, and maybe not out in public.

Luckily, Blink gave Mush a wry sort of half smile. “My pop gave it to me. After a fight.” He didn’t have to say that it had been bad, and from the way he squared his shoulders, Mush guessed that he was determined not to.

Mush reached out for a stuffed sheep. It was stiffer than it had looked on the shelf, and the fleece was rough, but it was cute to look at. It was time to settle. “I like this one,” Mush said. Blink patted him on the back.

They didn’t stay long after that. The store was going to close soon, and they needed to get home. Their gifts came to nearly two dollars, a high price, but maybe worth it for a chance to spend a couple of hours somewhere nice and upscale. Besides, Mush knew well enough that buying presents meant buying something better than you’d get for yourself.

“Slippers is gonna have it really good,” Mush said once they were outside with their bag.

“That’s the point.”

“What’s the point?”

“That our kids are going to have it better than we did, and then their kids are going to have it better than them. That’s called progress.” Blink punctuated his words by swinging the bag he was carrying.

“You think you’re gonna have kids one of these days?” Mush asked.

“Not a chance in hell,” Blink said. He gestured to the group of newsies they’d seen on the way over. A few of them were still at it, but a bigger group were engaged in a game of cards. “Want to give them a few cents?” Blink asked.

“Yeah, of course.” Mush rummaged in his pocket. Maybe the kids would take the money home to their families, or maybe they’d use it to have some fun. Either way, Mush didn’t mind much.


End file.
